DCIP DeSoto County AI Data Center

DeSoto County, FL

Project details

Capacity 4000 MW reported. Status planned. City . County DeSoto. State FL. Grid .

Overview

DCIP Group is pushing a gas-fired AI data-center complex on a decommissioned power plant in DeSoto County, Florida, and telling investors the site can expand to more than 4 GW. The company’s site places the project in Arcadia on a former 340 MW natural-gas plant, with a direct interconnect to the Florida Gas Transmission pipeline, more than 1,000 acres, an islanded microgrid of turbine generators, and a claim that it is the only Florida site designed to scale to +4 GW. Suncoast Searchlight reported on May 22, 2026 that in March, DeSoto County rezoned 34 acres at that plant so DCIP could begin its first hall on pipeline gas. County commissioners have embraced the proposal as tax-base relief; some residents have pushed back over water, noise, and pollution.

CEO Jon Brown and chairman Wilson Trilha told Suncoast Searchlight they would use closed-loop cooling and would not put pressure on neighbors. Public records reviewed by the newsroom show DCIP has already sought to rezone adjacent property, bringing the proposed footprint above 825 acres. Adviser Todd Smith posted that the project sat on more than 1,000 acres of developable land and later called it “one of the largest data center projects on Earth.” Brown said that if the county approved the full build, it would span 1,300 acres of scattered facilities. DCIP says the site could one day demand 4,000 megawatts. A slideshow Trilha shared with commissioners in mid-January said on-site generation would remove the primary conflict with community interests.

At the March commission meeting, resident Carol Mahler noted the county high school is less than three miles away and asked about greenhouse-gas pollution from gas-fired generation; the project sits about 2.5 miles from the high school. Consultant Kerri Burns said three wells on the property can draw 100,000 gallons a day; Brown said the company would seek reclaimed water. Commissioners imposed a 55 A-weighted-decibel limit 200 feet from nearby property lines when they rezoned the first 34 acres. Commissioner Elton Langford said DCIP has suggested the initial property, once built, could be valued at close to $4 billion and estimated the first hall could generate $26 million a year in local taxes. He said two other parcels are tied up and that DCIP would walk if the county missed a narrow window. Project Jarvis is the withdrawn St. Lucie County proposal.

The public map lists one planned map record. Reported campus capacity is 4,000 MW.

Map records

Map entries are not a physical building count; campus and building scope may differ across sources.

Related

Sources